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The Connectivity Factor: How Interoperability, via AI Agents, Speeds Precision Medicine
Jul 25 | Clinical Research News | What if trial timelines could be cut by years—just by improving how R&D systems and ecosystems talk to each other? In a recent study using generative AI (GAI) to aid decision-making from an integrated data ecosystem, trials sped up by more than 12 months. More -
AI-Powered Cell Mapping Could Transform Precision Oncology and Accelerate Clinical Trials
Jul 22 | Clinical Research News | Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are tackling the massive computational problem of determining the distinct types of cells inhabiting biopsied tissue. Their endgame is to deploy a suite of interoperable artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can accurately and reliably guide prescribing decisions for patients with cancer as well as predict their response to investigational treatments prior to enrollment. More -
How ‘Living’ Datasets Will Shape the Future of Precision Medicine
Jul 18 | Clinical Research News | Imagine trying to piece together a puzzle with half the pieces missing—that’s what happens when data is siloed. Without integrated, centralized data across sources, data decisions are made using incomplete, fragmented datasets. More -
New Kind of Trial Tests Multiomics-Based Therapy Predictions
Jul 17 | Clinical Research News | As gastrointestinal (GI) trials grow more sophisticated, the volume, velocity, and variety of study data have all expanded. One of the fastest-growing streams is electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs): diaries, symptom scores, quality-of-life surveys, and other instruments that come straight from the participant. Collecting this data quickly and conveniently is now mission critical. More -
Novel Blood Test Offers Early Cancer Treatment Response Monitoring in Clinical Trials
Jul 15 | Clinical Research News | A fragmentation-based blood test is providing pharmaceutical companies with a new way to monitor cancer treatment response in clinical trials, informing how drug efficacy is evaluated in early-stage development. Delfi Diagnostics has developed DELFI-TF (DELFI-tumor fraction), a research-grade assay that uses a unique fragmentation approach to detect circulating tumor DNA in blood samples. More -
Smarter Starts, Stronger Trials: How Data is Driving Faster Site Activation
Jul 11 | Clinical Research News | Feasibility, site selection, and study startup remain some of the most time-consuming and unpredictable phases of drug development. They are also tightly interconnected, making even small delays or inefficiencies during this period especially impactful, rippling across a study’s timeline and budget and affecting site relationships and patient access. More -
Scope of Things: Pragmatic Trials’ Growing Importance
Jul 09 | Clinical Research News | The growing importance of pragmatic clinical trials in healthcare research cannot be overstated. In the most recent episode of the Scope of Things podcast, host Deborah Borfitz speaks with Bethany Kwan, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and Heather Smyth, Colorado School of Public Health. Together they explore the fundamental distinctions between traditional clinical trials and pragmatic research approaches, uncovering why this methodology is experiencing such significant growth in modern healthcare research. More -
ICH E6(R3) Guidance: Elevating Trials through Collaboration
Jul 03 | Clinical Research News | After 15 years of development, Stanford University's Tom Soh is preparing to take his biosensor technology from laboratory rats to human volunteers. The device, which can continuously monitor molecules in flowing blood for up to seven days, represents a potential paradigm shift in clinical medicine. More -
Stanford's Blood Flow Biosensor Heads to Human Trials
Jul 02 | Clinical Research News | After 15 years of development, Stanford University's Tom Soh is preparing to take his biosensor technology from laboratory rats to human volunteers. The device, which can continuously monitor molecules in flowing blood for up to seven days, represents a potential paradigm shift in clinical medicine. More -
Walgreens ‘Built the Vessel’ for Making Clinical Trials a Care Option
Jul 01 | Clinical Research News | In the span of three years, Walgreens—an integral part of communities across the U.S. for well over a century—has positioned itself as a key player in the clinical trial ecosystem highlighted by more than 35 biopharma partnerships and the engagement of over 17 million customers participating in industry-sponsored studies. The thesis that co-locating trials where patients are “actually works." More


The Scope of Things podcast explores clinical research and its possibilities, promise, and pitfalls. Clinical Research News Senior writer Deborah Borfitz welcomes guests who are visionaries closest to the topics, but who can still see past their piece of the puzzle. Focusing on game-changing trends and out-of-the-box operational approaches in the clinical research field, the Scope of Things podcast is your no-nonsense, insider’s look at clinical research today.